Formby pupil bags Big Bang prize for engineering effort

A high school pupil from Formby has engineered himself a big win at a national convention.

Ben Pott, of Formby High School, got more than just a fun day out when he attended the national Big Bang Fair at Birmingham’s NEC recently.

There were a variety of tasks at the civil engineering stand, including looking into greener waste management systems, building a mini wind turbine, trying to build a Leaning Tower of Pisa that doesn’t lean, and more.

All the pupils who completed their tasks had their names put into a draw, and Ben was one of the four lucky ones picked as a winner.

During assembly at the school last week, Ben was presented with a pair of coveted Beats headphones as well as a certificate of merit from the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), one of the world’s oldest professional bodies.

After presenting the award Darrell Matthews, North West Regional Director of the Institution of Civil Engineers, said: “Ben and 3,000 other young people got the chance to show their creativity and ingenuity in tackling a range of activities on the civil engineering stand, and Ben was one of just four awarded a prize from the Institution of Civil Engineers.

“Those fun challenges were a taster of what Ben and his fellow pupils at Formby High School could be doing in a few years’ time if they choose a career in civil engineering.

“It could be a career designing tunnels, bridges, flood defences, or coming up with new ways of handling waste or modernising our energy supply. And with a growing population, a changing climate and new technologies emerging – we need civil engineers more than ever.”